Belarusian law enforcement agencies started a brutal nationwide crackdown on anti-regime protesters after the 2020 presidential elections which returned Alexander Lukashenko to power, forcing rival Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to flee.

Images of security officers arresting and detaining peaceful protesters spread around the world that summer. As did photos of young men and women beaten black and blue by officers in prison. Several people are known to have died while in jail.

And the repressions continue today. Simply owning a red and white flag, speaking Belarusian, reading Belarusian literature, or being a member of an anti-regime social media chat is enough to earn a knock on the door from the security services – and often worse.

Thousands of people fled the crackdown, mostly to neighboring Poland or Lithuania, and a smaller number came to Estonia. ERR News spoke to Maria and Yan, who moved to Tallinn in autumn 2022, and Siarhei who arrived in 2021.

The Viasna Human Rights Center calculates 1,397 people are in jail across Belarus on political charges.

Maria and Yan*

The married couple left Minsk after Yan (33), a game designer, was released from a six-month stint in prison almost two years ago. He says his "crime" was to have been a member of an anti-regime chat group on the social media messaging app Telegram. The pair also participated in the protests in 2020 in support of Tsikhanouskaya.

"It was a fully peaceful protest," Maria says, recalling that time. "It was to show the whole world that we are not evil, we are not villains, we are just common people. Just please let us live, let us evolve somehow, let us have the chance for our children to get a good job, and get a good education – because there is huge corruption in Belarus."

In a recent interview in a Tallinn cafe, the 30-year-old academic said the pair knew Yan's prison sentence was just the start, rather than the end, of their experience with the regime.

"Once you are caught, you will never totally come back. If you stay in Belarus, they will catch you once, twice, a third time – they already know that you are an unreliable person for this regime and you're a danger to them," Maria said.

They moved to Estonia soon after Yan was released, and have not been back to Belarus since.

During his detention, Yan spent time in two prisons: Akrestsina and Valadarka (Minsk Detention Center No. 1). In both facilities, he was forced to stay in overcrowded cells. In Akrestsina, 10 or so political prisoners had to share a one-person cell without heating and ventilation, sleep on the concrete floor, under constant light, and sometimes homeless people suffering with lice and severe mental health problems would be detained alongside them.

At Valadarka, where Yan spent the majority of his stint, the inmates had beds but were only allowed a few hours of exercise each week and rooms had almost no natural light. He compared the conditions to Tallinn's Paterei Prison, which was built around the same time in the 1800s, during the time of the Russian Empire.

He said political prisoners are viewed on the same level as murderers and terrorists within the system and have few rights. But the men he was imprisoned with – who were mostly there on political charges – were "cool guys" who helped each other through the ordeal.

"It was hard psychologically, but there were a lot of political prisoners, almost 70 percent of all people that are captured in prison. Educated people, there was even a psychiatrist, a lot of IT people, programmers, an artist. They gave lectures inside the cell, they read books, they shared their experiences," Maria said. "I was so impressed that he didn't lose his mind because for many people it was like they lost hope, they lost the purpose of life because it's really stressful."

While Yan was inside, Maria was doing everything she could to get him out. Having watched friends go through similar situations, she knew what to do. After hiring a lawyer, she sent packages of warm clothes – Yan had been detained in a t-shirt while ill – and spent days writing letters.

"My normal day was work and then to write a letter to him for three hours. That was it," Maria says. She was also waiting for a knock at the door, to be arrested herself. "It was just a matter of time."

When they arrived in Tallinn, where Maria had been offered a job at a university, they applied for refugee status.

Maria said the pair feel safe in Estonia and many people understand they are against both Lukashenko and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is waged from Belarusian territory.

"It's good to know that most Ukrainians understand our situation. They realize that we are not actually attacking their country. It helps a lot psychologically. You are both the victim and the aggressor for many people. But here it feels completely safe" she said.

However, both acknowledged the regime can pressure those abroad by pursuing their families back home in Belarus. The day before we met, Yan's brother was detained by the KGB.

Maria said it is important to remember those still in prison because they are the future: "Right now, the best part of our generation is in prison."

"The Nobel Prize winner, Ales Bialiatski, is in prison and we don't know anything about his health, if he is still alive or not and a lot of our people like artists, poets, professors, scientists, they are in prison, it's the future of Belarus," Maria says.

Despite the situation in their home county, the pair say they try to remain optimistic and promote Belarusian culture.

Asked what people who want to help should do, she said: "Spread information, share information, support the families of these people /.../ Just remember that Belarus is different. We have our own traditions, our own culture."

*Names changed due to security concerns, but known to the author.

Siarhei*

Siarhei fled Belarus three years ago after being arrested for his political views. The 31-year-old said he was lucky to escape and decided in three hours to leave the country.

"A way was found, and one suitcase was packed. I had to leave behind my entire life, friends, and relatives to survive. Otherwise, I would hardly be able to breathe now because during interrogations, it was repeatedly hinted that I would face consequences in prison," he told ERR News in a written comment.

Siarhei now lives in Tallinn but he knows others who have not been so lucky and have been sent to prison in Belarus. "I do not maintain contact with them, [but] at least through other people I know that they are doing well, as far as possible," he said.

The PhD student said it is important to remember political prisoners today because they are fighting "for the freedom of Belarus and Belarusians from the dictatorship that keeps the country in fear."

"These people have sacrificed everything they had so that others could leave, hide, or continue their work. It is important to support them in every way possible, to write letters, send packages," Siarhei said.

"Political prisoners are tortured, kept in unimaginable conditions, psychologically broken to make them repent for their opinion about the current government. The authorities do not consider them as human beings, [and] constantly degrade them, if they try to defend their position, they twist their words to portray freedom-loving Belarusians in the worst light possible. It is important to convey all this to the public so that no person in detention or killed by the dictatorship is forgotten."

He encouraged people to show solidarity with Belarusians today. "Political prisoners cannot see the protests or rallies held in their support, but they can learn about them from the news they receive from loved ones," Siarhei said, adding it is worth sending a letter even if it does not reach the intended recipient.

"It is also important to express support to the relatives of political prisoners, as they are in a kind of psychological trap because of what the authorities are doing or can do to their loved ones," he said.

Siarhei also stressed the importance of the work of the diaspora. He pushed back on the idea that Belarusians had left the country solely for a better life elsewhere.

"I, for example, wanted to move, but not in the way I was forced to. This is all forced emigration, which has many risks. Loneliness, fear for relatives left behind in Belarus, lack of stability because there is no room for error, and other fears haunt every Belarusian who has left the country involuntarily," Siarhei wrote.

"I know people who have given up because their efforts seem too small, they are ashamed that they left, while someone else stayed and is in prison, etc. One should not devalue oneself and others, even if it seems that the efforts made are insufficient, because it is not understood what a person had to go through and what they lost by moving to another country."

*Last name known to ERR News.

Difficult to know how to help

Irina Suursild, a Belarusian who moved to Estonia before 2020 and is the spokesperson for the community group Belarus House (Valgavene maja) in Tallinn, outlined the situation further.

The number of prisoners is "much higher" than the 1,397 listed by Viasna, Suursild said. 

"No one knows exactly how many people are in prison nowadays. But the problem is not actually this number, the point is that the number is growing daily. People come out after serving their time, but someone new is detained every day," she told ERR News.

The authorities are also operating on a quota system, she said: "​​People working in the system just want to get some benefits, some stars, some additional perks at work, or new positions. This is their way to improve their career, by raising the numbers of people that they bring in."

Five people are known to have died in prison. 

It is also difficult to know how to move forward. There is no consensus on how to get prisoners released and pressure such as international sanctions appear to have no impact on the Belarusian regime, Suursild said.

Prominent opposition figures such as political activist Maria Kalesnikava, 2020 presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, long-time regime critic Mikalai Statkevich, and blogger Ihar Losikhave have not been heard from for over a year. Babaryka's son was also detained and is facing trial.

As well as physical imprisonment, the regime applies physical and emotional pressure to citizens both inside and out of jail.

It has shut down opposition media and social media channels and even sharing links from these resources is enough to face detention, which has led to an information vacuum. Support for Ukraine or donating money to pro-Ukrainian causes, or making comments critical of the regime on social media can also lead to interrogations or prison time, Suursild said. A list of so-called extremists has also been drawn up that includes 4,000 names.

"It's just constant pressure that you might be doing something wrong, but the rules change all the time, so you have no idea what you're doing right," she said. "So the best [thing to do] is just either to leave the country, then you will finally be released from all your fears or to not move at all, to disappear."

It is still possible for people to leave the country, but this is getting hard due to sanctions on Belarus related to the war in Ukraine which has limited the number of countries offering visas, and the regime's crackdown. Renewing a passport can now only be done inside the country, not at embassies abroad, for example.

She said some Belarusians have been detained when returning to the country and must pay steep fines to be released, which is one way the regime can raise funds.

"And that's why it's so dangerous to go back to get your documents changed," Suursild said. "Belarus is a prison already."

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!